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PRETTY SOLDIER SAILOR MOON: FUTURE
Chapter 7: Border Between Ally and Friend
The six Sailor Soldiers found a quiet corner near one of the empty shop buildings and reconvened. The Sailor Quartet stared at the unknown Soldier, clearly intent on bombarding her with questions. Chibi-Moon interfered as she said, “I don’t know who you are or why you’re fighting these Erisians, but I really want to thank you for your help today and at the palace. We won’t make the same mistakes we made today; once we find one, we destroy the core without any delays.”
“That would be most helpful,” the girl replied. “It would be real troublesome if multiple Erisians were to appear at once, although their appearances seem to be conveniently sporadic for now. It’d be reassuring to know that you lot can handle at least one without my help.”
“You make it sound like we’re weak,” Ceres frowned.
“That’s not necessarily true. There’s a difference between being weak and being uninformed. From now on though, I may have to critique your performances if you continuously fail to show improvement.”
“Why would you have to critique us? It’s not like we’re being tested, right?”
The girl paused for a moment, impressed with Ceres’ astute insight. True, she wanted to test Earth’s protectors, but she didn’t want to say too much yet lest she risk offending them. She just replied, “Just continue what you’ve been doing and you should be fine. I will be looking into where Eris is sending her minions from. I will inform you as soon as that information becomes available so we can launch a proper counterattack.”
“Hmph… I suppose that’s fair enough.”
With that settled, the mystery Soldier tried to walk away when Chibi-Moon suddenly begged, “Can you at least tell us your name!?”
The archer sighed, visibly irritated. “I suppose. It wouldn’t do me any good for you to address me as ‘Hey, you!’ or ‘You there!’ all the time.”
“Then…?”
“I am Sailor Arsenic Hyena.”
The other Soldiers were baffled by such an unusual name. Pallas remarked, “That’s the same as that Heavy Metal Papillon lady we fought!”
“Yeah,” Juno nodded direly. “One of Sailor Galaxia’s minions. So that means you’re part of Shadow Galactica too, are you not!?”
“Oh, that,” Hyena brushed her hair aside as if Juno had made a terrible joke. “Don’t misunderstand me. I’m nothing like those frauds whom that witch enslaved with false promises. As proof, allow me to show you my Sailor Crystal.”
She opened her brooch and a Paris green diamond-shaped crystal emerged, which she held in her hand to show the others. Ceres took a closer look and said, “It’s real! But then why are you named like one of Shadow Galactica’s minions?”
“It’s actually the other way around. The Sailor Metal-Animal convention stems from pseudonyms we use in my galaxy to hide the identity of our guardian planet from enemies. If they were to learn which world we protected, it would be hunted down and obliterated without mercy. We needed to make sure that never happened, and the first step was shielding our true names, hence the peculiar Sailor identities. Shadow Galactica’s five traitors killed the real Sailor Soldiers of their home worlds and borrowed that naming convention to identify themselves, rather than reusing the true Soldier’s name. Just thinking of their plagiarizing ways disgusts me to no end.”
“I see. That’s good to know,” Chibi-Moon sighed, relieved to learn that this new Soldier was not part of a long lost evil organization.
“But if that’s the case, why do you need to hide your identity from us? Can’t you trust us?” Juno asked.
Hyena’s glare remained stiff and cold. “To be frank, no.”
“Why not!? If you’re fighting the Erisians with us, then we should work together! Why are you being so distant toward us!?”
“Remember the first Erisian that attacked your palace?” Hyena asked Chibi-Moon, practically ignoring Juno. “I witnessed all of Serenity’s guardians fighting it. In all honesty, that battle was abysmal. This battle was hardly any different. How could I trust any of Earth’s Sailor Soldiers when they couldn’t even handle a lone Erisian as a team? I intervened not to save your lives; rather, I couldn’t stand watching such a farce any longer.”
Sailor Vesta grew upset. “Are you kidding me!? We were caught off guard! We had no time to think!”
“That’s no excuse. A Sailor Soldier must always be ready to fight. The fact that you were ‘caught off guard’ means that this world is in perpetual tranquility, which has caused Earth’s protectors to be rather lax in terms of preparedness. How can I trust any of Serenity’s guardians when everlasting peace has dulled their abilities as true warriors? While we are on the same side, I would rather trust my own skills than to rely upon a team of bumbling, outdated guardians. From where I hail, all of you would be considered laughingstocks.”
“I don’t believe you!!” Vesta growled through clenched teeth, grabbing Hyena’s collar and forcing her into a glaring match. “You don’t have any shame at all, do you!?”
“It’s the truth. Why would I need to be ashamed?”
“Stop it!” Ceres pleaded. “I don’t like what she’s saying either, but we’re still fellow Sailor Soldiers! We shouldn’t be fighting each other!”
“You should heed her advice,” Hyena warned calmly. This was when Vesta felt something sharp against her sternum, and she looked down to find a poison-tipped arrow in Hyena’s hand lightly jamming her flesh, threatening to stab through the delicate skin and into her heart. In her fury, Vesta had failed to notice the sneak attack.
“Vesta!!” the other Soldiers cried out in fear.
The red-haired warrior paled. “You wouldn’t-!”
“I’m quite terrifying when angry,” Hyena murmured darkly. “I have no problem ending frivolous, energy-wasting arguments like this… permanently.”
Vesta shivered lividly, but surrendered and released Hyena from her grip. The alien girl likewise made her arrow vanish, then jumped high onto a lamp post.
“Where are you going!?” Pallas asked.
“Isn’t it obvious? I must find more Erisians to slay. I have no time for idle prattle.”
With one more graceful leap, Sailor Arsenic Hyena was gone. Since they had nothing left to do as Sailor Soldiers, the five girls morphed back to their civilian forms and re-emerged into the empty streets of Ginza 4-Chome. Some curious folks were slowly returning, including a few police officers to help restore order to the sabotaged area. Chibi-Usa and the Yoeda sisters looked around until they found Midori standing in the crowd near the nearly ruined Wako clock.
“Midori! Over there!” Chibi-Usa called out and joined her.
“Is everything okay?” Midori asked.
“Don’t worry!” Chibi-Usa said. “We managed to find someone to help us!”
“I see. So what was that abomination anyway?”
“I don’t know. The only thing that matters is that it’s gone.”
“Might as well leave it to the police and grab a bite to eat,” VesVes stretched.
JunJun muttered, “We just ate, you moron.”
“I know, but that little fracas worked up my appetite again.”
“Let’s go to the bakery in Hibiya! I heard they have the best anpan in the world!” PallaPalla pleaded, grabbing Midori’s wrists and hopping on her feet playfully.
“If you’re talking about Kimuraya Bakery, I have to warn you that the prices for their sweet breads are fairly high,” the quiet girl told her, barely fazed by PallaPalla’s childish behavior.
“We elite ladies don’t let little things like price tags deter us from having a good time,” CereCere grinned slyly and put her hands on Midori’s shoulders, vividly blinking in that noblewoman way.
“If you insist, then I will tag along. But I need to return to the apartments soon so I can catch up on my work.”
“Sure!” Chibi-Usa nodded, suddenly feeling a little hungry herself. “Let’s go!”
Chapter 7: Border Between Ally and Friend
The six Sailor Soldiers found a quiet corner near one of the empty shop buildings and reconvened. The Sailor Quartet stared at the unknown Soldier, clearly intent on bombarding her with questions. Chibi-Moon interfered as she said, “I don’t know who you are or why you’re fighting these Erisians, but I really want to thank you for your help today and at the palace. We won’t make the same mistakes we made today; once we find one, we destroy the core without any delays.”
“That would be most helpful,” the girl replied. “It would be real troublesome if multiple Erisians were to appear at once, although their appearances seem to be conveniently sporadic for now. It’d be reassuring to know that you lot can handle at least one without my help.”
“You make it sound like we’re weak,” Ceres frowned.
“That’s not necessarily true. There’s a difference between being weak and being uninformed. From now on though, I may have to critique your performances if you continuously fail to show improvement.”
“Why would you have to critique us? It’s not like we’re being tested, right?”
The girl paused for a moment, impressed with Ceres’ astute insight. True, she wanted to test Earth’s protectors, but she didn’t want to say too much yet lest she risk offending them. She just replied, “Just continue what you’ve been doing and you should be fine. I will be looking into where Eris is sending her minions from. I will inform you as soon as that information becomes available so we can launch a proper counterattack.”
“Hmph… I suppose that’s fair enough.”
With that settled, the mystery Soldier tried to walk away when Chibi-Moon suddenly begged, “Can you at least tell us your name!?”
The archer sighed, visibly irritated. “I suppose. It wouldn’t do me any good for you to address me as ‘Hey, you!’ or ‘You there!’ all the time.”
“Then…?”
“I am Sailor Arsenic Hyena.”
The other Soldiers were baffled by such an unusual name. Pallas remarked, “That’s the same as that Heavy Metal Papillon lady we fought!”
“Yeah,” Juno nodded direly. “One of Sailor Galaxia’s minions. So that means you’re part of Shadow Galactica too, are you not!?”
“Oh, that,” Hyena brushed her hair aside as if Juno had made a terrible joke. “Don’t misunderstand me. I’m nothing like those frauds whom that witch enslaved with false promises. As proof, allow me to show you my Sailor Crystal.”
She opened her brooch and a Paris green diamond-shaped crystal emerged, which she held in her hand to show the others. Ceres took a closer look and said, “It’s real! But then why are you named like one of Shadow Galactica’s minions?”
“It’s actually the other way around. The Sailor Metal-Animal convention stems from pseudonyms we use in my galaxy to hide the identity of our guardian planet from enemies. If they were to learn which world we protected, it would be hunted down and obliterated without mercy. We needed to make sure that never happened, and the first step was shielding our true names, hence the peculiar Sailor identities. Shadow Galactica’s five traitors killed the real Sailor Soldiers of their home worlds and borrowed that naming convention to identify themselves, rather than reusing the true Soldier’s name. Just thinking of their plagiarizing ways disgusts me to no end.”
“I see. That’s good to know,” Chibi-Moon sighed, relieved to learn that this new Soldier was not part of a long lost evil organization.
“But if that’s the case, why do you need to hide your identity from us? Can’t you trust us?” Juno asked.
Hyena’s glare remained stiff and cold. “To be frank, no.”
“Why not!? If you’re fighting the Erisians with us, then we should work together! Why are you being so distant toward us!?”
“Remember the first Erisian that attacked your palace?” Hyena asked Chibi-Moon, practically ignoring Juno. “I witnessed all of Serenity’s guardians fighting it. In all honesty, that battle was abysmal. This battle was hardly any different. How could I trust any of Earth’s Sailor Soldiers when they couldn’t even handle a lone Erisian as a team? I intervened not to save your lives; rather, I couldn’t stand watching such a farce any longer.”
Sailor Vesta grew upset. “Are you kidding me!? We were caught off guard! We had no time to think!”
“That’s no excuse. A Sailor Soldier must always be ready to fight. The fact that you were ‘caught off guard’ means that this world is in perpetual tranquility, which has caused Earth’s protectors to be rather lax in terms of preparedness. How can I trust any of Serenity’s guardians when everlasting peace has dulled their abilities as true warriors? While we are on the same side, I would rather trust my own skills than to rely upon a team of bumbling, outdated guardians. From where I hail, all of you would be considered laughingstocks.”
“I don’t believe you!!” Vesta growled through clenched teeth, grabbing Hyena’s collar and forcing her into a glaring match. “You don’t have any shame at all, do you!?”
“It’s the truth. Why would I need to be ashamed?”
“Stop it!” Ceres pleaded. “I don’t like what she’s saying either, but we’re still fellow Sailor Soldiers! We shouldn’t be fighting each other!”
“You should heed her advice,” Hyena warned calmly. This was when Vesta felt something sharp against her sternum, and she looked down to find a poison-tipped arrow in Hyena’s hand lightly jamming her flesh, threatening to stab through the delicate skin and into her heart. In her fury, Vesta had failed to notice the sneak attack.
“Vesta!!” the other Soldiers cried out in fear.
The red-haired warrior paled. “You wouldn’t-!”
“I’m quite terrifying when angry,” Hyena murmured darkly. “I have no problem ending frivolous, energy-wasting arguments like this… permanently.”
Vesta shivered lividly, but surrendered and released Hyena from her grip. The alien girl likewise made her arrow vanish, then jumped high onto a lamp post.
“Where are you going!?” Pallas asked.
“Isn’t it obvious? I must find more Erisians to slay. I have no time for idle prattle.”
With one more graceful leap, Sailor Arsenic Hyena was gone. Since they had nothing left to do as Sailor Soldiers, the five girls morphed back to their civilian forms and re-emerged into the empty streets of Ginza 4-Chome. Some curious folks were slowly returning, including a few police officers to help restore order to the sabotaged area. Chibi-Usa and the Yoeda sisters looked around until they found Midori standing in the crowd near the nearly ruined Wako clock.
“Midori! Over there!” Chibi-Usa called out and joined her.
“Is everything okay?” Midori asked.
“Don’t worry!” Chibi-Usa said. “We managed to find someone to help us!”
“I see. So what was that abomination anyway?”
“I don’t know. The only thing that matters is that it’s gone.”
“Might as well leave it to the police and grab a bite to eat,” VesVes stretched.
JunJun muttered, “We just ate, you moron.”
“I know, but that little fracas worked up my appetite again.”
“Let’s go to the bakery in Hibiya! I heard they have the best anpan in the world!” PallaPalla pleaded, grabbing Midori’s wrists and hopping on her feet playfully.
“If you’re talking about Kimuraya Bakery, I have to warn you that the prices for their sweet breads are fairly high,” the quiet girl told her, barely fazed by PallaPalla’s childish behavior.
“We elite ladies don’t let little things like price tags deter us from having a good time,” CereCere grinned slyly and put her hands on Midori’s shoulders, vividly blinking in that noblewoman way.
“If you insist, then I will tag along. But I need to return to the apartments soon so I can catch up on my work.”
“Sure!” Chibi-Usa nodded, suddenly feeling a little hungry herself. “Let’s go!”
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